Hayato, a shoebox of a restaurant nestled in the corner of the ROW DTLA, is just the type of place you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere other than Los Angeles. During the daytime, Chef Brandon Go, who cut his teeth at the three Michelin-starred Ishikawa in Tokyo, offers fantastic bento boxes for takeaway. The restaurant transforms at night and the six guests lucky enough to score a seat enjoy one of the finest kaiseki meals in the city. With seafood specially ordered for each individual guest and the menu constantly changing with the seasons, no two dinners at Hayato will be alike. However, highlights from our meal included slowly steamed central coast abalone with awabi kimo, binchotan grilled nodoguro, and a potent rockfish nabe with bamboo shoots and chrysanthemum greens. The almost entirely seafood menu, while incredibly light and clean, intensifies in flavor course by course. For having been open only a couple months now, Hayato is operating at an incredible level. While a meal here is certainly pricey, it is without a doubt one of our top choices for a special occasion meal in LA and it should be yours as well.
Style: Japanese
Address: 1320 E 7th St #126, Los Angeles, CA 90021 (Arts District)
Hours: Bento pickup Wednesday-Saturday at 12 and 1:30pm, Dinner Tuesday-Saturday 7PM
Menu: hayatorestaurant.com
Price: Lunch $50, Dinner $200
Reservations: (213) 395-0607 or Resy
This review was written by In The Loup contributor Ash Narayan